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Best Chapter: Your novels are all historical novels, set in exotic times and places. Your novel Harem introduces readers to the intriguing world of the Jewish quarter in Persia. In Courtesan, we read about Belle époque France and the closed domain of women in 19th-century Persia. The Last Romanov is set in the royal court…

Mitch Albom has succeeded in striking an important chord in all of us — the intrinsic human desire to discover what lies beyond, the need to believe that the way we conduct our lives matters and that “the end is not the end,” after all, but another beginning. These intertwined themes are evident in most…

While reviewing The Gallery of Vanished Husbands by Natasha Solomons (Plume Original), the bestselling author of The House at Tyneford, I was also reading Ralph Ellison’s, The Invisible Man, and the thought occurred to me that invisibility can take many forms that might have nothing to do with skin color. Juliet Montague feels invisible in…

On a Shabbat morning, more than 34 years back, I decided to visit Sinai Temple, a conservative Jewish synagogue in Los Angeles. At the time, having been displaced from Iran, my country and home, I did not know much about Conservative Judaism. In fact, apart from a cursory idea about the religious philosophies of Orthodox…

Every now and then a reviewer might have the luck of a novel landing on her table that is not only engrossing, imaginative and a pure joy to read, but also well-crafted and intelligent. This is the case with Helene Wecker’s debut novel, The Golem and the Jinni (HarperHarper Collins Publishers). Rotfeld, a Prussian Jew…

I just returned from Montreal where, thanks to the Jewish Book Council and to the Montreal Public Library, I spoke to a group of around 70 or 80 members, whose many intelligent questions kept the evening lively and the auditorium buzzing. Having never been to Montreal, my husband and I decided to extend our trip…

The ups and downs of everyday life, the many dramatic struggles woven into the fabric of life, provide writers — this group of shameless voyeurs and hoarders of stories — with invaluable ideas for our novels. In The Comfort of Lies (Atria Books, 323 pp), Randy Susan Meyers, the bestselling author of The Murderer’s Daughter,…

It is not often that I come across a book, the subject of which is so exciting, I’m compelled to praise it, even before I’ve had a chance to read the book. Women in the Shahnameh; Their History and Social Status within the Framework of Ancient and Medieval Sources, by Djalal Khaleghi Motlagh, edited by…

If you were to peel life like an onion, you’d find layer after layer of hidden meaning philosophers have debated over for centuries and will continue to do so until the end of time. Why are we here? Where are we going? Who is our creator? Does she exist and if so, how involved is…

I just returned from my personal Shangri La, or Incline Village, North Lake Tahoe. The artists, Tom and Mary Garrell, had arranged a book signing in Kris Moose, their lovely gallery that displays Tom and Mary’s imaginative paintings and photographs. It was wonderful to connect with the locals and enjoy the interest of so many…